Bird feeder

ABSTRACT

A bird feeder having separately manufactured components having a configuration which allows the components to fit together when in use, but can be disassembled for packaging, cleaning and replacement of damaged components. The components are formed from weather resistant materials, which can be transparent so that the supply of seeds can be observed for replenishment when needed, and the supply of seeds can be protected against exposure to weather conditions, while the components may have a physical size and shape to prevent access to the seeds by squirrels and climbing animals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is concerned with a bird feeder having detachablecomponents which lock together when assembled.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In order to effectively present bird seed to birds, many differentconstructions have been devised which contain a suitably accessiblesupply of bird seed for birds, and protection of the bird seed. The morecommon types of feeders have tubular, hopper, bowl or platform seedcontainers. These may employ feeding ports, or trays to facilitatecontrolled dispensing of seed. Feeding ports are often accompanied byperches to facilitate access to the ports by birds. These seedcontainers usually incorporate a cover. They are also capable of beingsuspended or pole mounted. Said bird feeders are usually permanentlyassembled in a way which does not permit easy disassembly.

Additional problems have been recognized. Squirrels are attracted to thefeeders by the bird seed. The squirrels then dominate the feeder drivingoff birds, defeating the purpose of the feeder. Also feeders arefrequently constructed of materials which are known to harbor disease. Abird feeder of this composition may spread such a disease widely.Furthermore, most bird feeders do not provide for accessory, amendmentor augmentation attachment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the invention is to create a bird feeder whichcombines a detachably connected hopper and platform or tray allowingeasy cleaning, maintenance and/or replacement should any component bedamaged or be rendered unusable. Another object is to provide a birdfeeder having a minimum of parts which are easily manufactured, easilypackaged, and that facilitate dispensing the bird seed.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a weather resistantfeeder using materials that do not readily harbor bird disease.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bird feeder capable ofbeing either suspended from an overhead support or mounted on a polesupport.

A further object is to provide for attachment of accessories to the birdfeeder by means of slotted openings.

Further objects and attendant advantages will be set forth in detail inconnection with the description of the construction of the bird feederseen in the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bird feeder assembly showing therelative arrangements of components;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the assembly seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the squirrel guard for the feeder;

FIG. 4 is a view from underneath the feeder which is a detachablyconnected seed hopper and tray;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the feeder to illustrate the severalcomponents;

FIG. 6 is a pole supported view in section of the bird feeder toillustrate an important feature;

FIG. 7 is a view of the disconnection between the tray and hopper asseen looking into the seed hopper from the top, and illustrating animportant feature;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but with the tray and hopperrelatively rotated to become interconnected;

FIG. 8A is a fragmentary perspective view of a typical retainer forengagement with a finger on the bottom edge of the hopper;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a typical mechanism to interconnect thetray and seed hopper, the view being taken at line 9--9 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a view with the tray and seed hopper interlocked, the viewbeing taken at line 10--10 in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view of the way the seed is dispensed from thehopper onto the tray for the birds;

FIG. 12 is a detail view taken at the line 12--12 in the view of FIG. 4;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view of an adapter for pole mountingthe bird feeder seen in FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified adapter for polemounting the bird feeder seen in FIG. 6;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view of means to locate the coverover the birdseed hopper; and

FIG. 16 is a pole supported view of the bird feeder to illustrateparking of the cover during replenishment with bird seed.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is illustrated as a squirrel proof bird feeder having ahopper and tray style either for hanging or pole mounting. The feederhas a hopper for the seeds which can be substantially fully presented tothe birds. The hopper is open at the top and bottom. In addition, thefeeder is constructed of components which can be separated for easycleaning, for stacking to facilitate packaging, and to replacecomponents that may sustain damage.

The bird feeder, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 comprises a feed hopper ortapered cylindrical holder 15 seated on a tray configuration 16, and asquirrel proof conic cover 17 having a sharply angled central cone 18which flares outwardly to a broad and less angled conic skirt 19 thatcovers the tray 16 on which the birds may perch when feeding. Thecentral cone 18 is formed with a closing conic section defining an apex20 which has an aperture through which a hanger member 20A may beinserted when the feeder is to be suspended or suitable retainer 41 whenpole mounted. See FIGS. 1, 5 and 6.

FIG. 4 illustrates the view of the bottom surface 16A of the tray 16when looking upward to the under surface of the conic skirt 19. The trayis formed with a downwardly open central socket 21 havingcircumferentially spaced gusset ribs 22 radially directed to afford arigid support for the bottom surface 16A having a central shallow conicsurface 23 FIG. 6, in the tray 16 which will be further explained inother views. A series of moisture drain holes or apertures 24 openthrough the tray. See FIGS. 11 and 12. The tray has a series of similaropen sockets 25, each one as seen in FIG. 8A assuming a cast formation.They are spaced around the central socket 21 so as to align between thegussets 22. Each individual socket 25 has a circumferentially displacedwall 26. The outwardly displaced walls 26 have circumferentiallyparallel edges 27 which permit the raised surfaces 28 and 29 between thewall 26 and the edge 27 to define the limits of the socket in the topsurface of the tray 16, whereby the socket 25 opens at the free end 30of the wall 26. Each socket 25 has another slotted opening 31 above theedge 27. The slotted openings 25 and 31 are provided to receive asuitably shaped finger 32 (see FIG. 9) depending from the bottom edge 33of the seed hopper 15. The fingers 32 are turned radially inwardly andextend below the bottom edge 33 so gaps 34 (see FIG. 10) appear betweenthe fingers 32.

In FIGS. 7-10, it can be seen that the circular bottom edge 33 (see FIG.9) of the hopper 15 places the radially inwardly directed fingers 32(see FIG. 5) in alignment with the radially slotted openings 25 underthe wall 26. Then by relatively rotating the hopper 15 and the tray 16,those fingers 32 can be slid under the wall 26 (FIG. 9) to seat in thesocket 25. That rotation will be completed when a locking ridge 35 oneach finger 32 snaps into a receiving depression 36 under the wall 26 sothe tray 16 and hopper 15 are releasably interconnected. Reverserelative rotation of the tray 16 and hopper 15 will cause the fingers 32to flex downwardly and the wall 26 to flex upwardly so the lockingridges 35 will be withdrawn from the depressions 36 to unlock the tray.Radially located on tray 16 are six accessory mounting slots 46 (seeFIG. 12).

In the views of FIGS. 3, 6, and 15, it can be seen that the undersurface of the flared skirt 19 at the junction with the sharply conicsurface 18 is formed with small projections 37 which are spaced aroundthe skirt 19 at about 90 degrees. These projections 37 are intended toproperly locate the position of the skirt 19 in abutment with the opentop edge 38 of the seed hopper 15, whereby these components will tend toremain in centered positions. Also, the projections retain the skirt 19evenly surrounding the seed hopper during windy conditions.

The view of FIG. 6 illustrates the dual feature of placing the birdfeeder in service. The joining of the cover 17 to the hopper 15 is byinstalling a bail 39 so its hooked ends 40 engaged in diametricallyopposite apertures spaced from the upper end 38 of the hopper 15. Thebail 39 is held upwardly under the cover 17 by a suitable retainer 41which emerges at the conic closure apex 20 of the cover 17. When thebird feeder is to be suspended, a flexible cord, chain or other hangingmember 20A can be run up under the cover 17 and attached to the bail 39so it extends through the conic closure 20. Thus, the several componentsof the bird feeder can be retained in assembly.

The drawing of FIG. 11 illustrates the gravity feed of the seeds 42through the bottom edge gaps 33 of the hopper into the exposed surfaceof the tray 16. The conic surface 23 of the tray 16 functions to directthe mass of the seeds 42 outwardly on to the tray 16 by the effect ofgravity, and also with the assistance of the birds landing on andleaving the tray which creates a useful agitation of the hopper 15.

A further feature of the bird feeder is seen in a fragmentary view ofFIG. 12. The tray 16 as seen from line 12--12 in FIG. 4 is provided withoutwardly and upwardly tapering drain holes 24. Thus, if a seed isentrapped in any of the holes 24, moisture can cause the seed to swelland that reaction is sufficient to cause expulsion of the seed so theholes 24 are relatively self cleaning.

When the bird feeder of FIG. 6 is to be pole mounted, the socket 21 seenin FIGS. 13 or 14 can be provided with a tubular extension or sleeve 43in FIG. 13 sized to receive the pole 44. Thus, the feeder socket 21 canseat on the top of pole 44. If the pole 45 has a smaller diameter, thesleeve 43 can have an internal diameter sized to receive the pole 45 inthe sleeve as in FIG. 14.

The tray 16 is formed with slots 46 for supporting accessories such as asquirrel baffle 48. The baffle is a flat sheet which circles the lip ofthe tray 16 and hangs from elements 51 inserted in the slots 46. Morespecifically seen in FIG. 6 view of the original drawing the baffle 48is a flat sheet having slots 49 on one vertical end and mating hookprojection 50 on the opposite vertical end. When the projections 50 andslots 49 are mated the skirt 48 will form a tube having 5 hook shapedprojections 51 spaced around its upper margin, and one straightprojection 52. The 5 projections are adapted to hook into tray slots 46seen in FIG. 7 while the straight projection 52 cannot enter a tray slotuntil the skirt is rotated to engage the hook projection in therespective tray slots at which time the straight projection can enter aslot to secure the skirt to the tray and prevent unhooking of projection51.

Having set forth the several features of the bird feeder, it is to berecognized that the component parts of the bird feeder assembly can bemanufactured or molded from suitable material, whether opaque ortransparent, and whether plastic or metals are used. Weather resistantmaterial is to be preferred, and it is an important feature that theoverhang of the outer edge of the flared skirt 19 relative to the rim ofthe tray 16 must be sufficient to prevent squirrels from reaching thetray 16. Providing a surface on the skirt that a squirrel cannot gripappears to yield the best results.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a bird feeder assembly comprising a traypresenting a surface on which birds may perch for feeding, and an opentop hopper located on top of the tray to hold bird seed, the improvementconsisting of cooperatively formed meshing elements distributed incircularly spaced relation on said tray and said hopper in position tointerengage which permit said tray and said hopper to attach and detachupon relative rotation, the interengagement of the meshing elementsforming a series of spaced openings around said tray and hopper for thedistribution of bird seed onto said tray.
 2. The bird feeder assemblyset forth in claim 1 wherein said cooperatively formed meshing elementsfor retaining said tray and hopper are sockets arranged in a circularspacing on said tray with openings presented to said tray and fingers onthe hopper arranged to project below said hopper in position for beingslidably received in said openings in said sockets upon relativerotation of said tray and hopper.
 3. The bird feeder assembly set forthin claim 2 wherein said sockets and fingers have locking engagement witheach other upon relative rotation of said sockets and fingers.
 4. Thebird feeder assembly set forth in claim 2 wherein said tray incorporatesa support-pole receiving socket projecting from said tray.
 5. The birdfeeder assembly set forth in claim 4 wherein said tray incorporates asquirrel-proof element in the form of a socket projecting from said traywith an open bottom end directed to surround said support-pole receivingsocket.
 6. A bird feeder comprising:a) an open top hopper for bird seed;b) a bail element connected to said open top hopper; c) a cover oversaid open top of said hopper which receives said bail element; d) anopen bottom of said hopper having a series of finger elements withlocking element, distributed around the hopper in spaced relation; e) abird seed tray; and f) socket means in said bird seed tray in positionsto engage and lock said finger elements for retaining said tray on saidhopper, said spaces between said fingers forming openings into said trayfor allowing bird seed to exit from said hopper onto said tray.
 7. Thebird feeder set forth in claim 6 wherein said bird seed tray is formedwith a raised conic surface to project into said open bottom of saidhopper in position to direct bird seed through said openings onto saidtray.
 8. The bird feeder set forth in claim 6 wherein said bird seedtray is formed with a series of water draining apertures surroundingsaid open bottom hopper, said apertures being conically shaped to expelbird seed lodged in said apertures.
 9. The bird feeder set forth inclaim 6 wherein said cover is secured to said bail element by adjustablemeans permitting raising and lowering of said cover to gain access tosaid hopper without detachment of said cover.
 10. The bird feeder setforth in claim 6 wherein said tray includes accessory slots providingmeans for attachment of a baffle.
 11. The bird feeder set forth in claim6 wherein said cover is movable relative to said hopper for exposing thehopper for placement of a supply of birdseed.